Politics & Media

Dec 10, 2015, 07:06AM

Trump Crosses a Big Fat Line

"Mr. Trump’s statement about Paris has no basis in fact," says The New York Times, crisp. Trump had been telling that old one about some city in Europe where the Muslims have scared the police out of certain sections. The Times didn't put up with it. Joe Scarborough cut to break because Trump wasn't answering questions. Even GOP leaders have had enough. Their base loves Donald Trump and is fine with the idea that has everybody else rattled, namely Trump's call for keeping Muslims out of the country. But Paul Ryan spoke up, and so did Reince Priebus and the state chairmen in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Even Dick Cheney said something. One hears Halliburton's Arab clients might have influence with him. But explain the state chairman of Iowa. His Arab clients and Arab voters are probably zero; so is his constituency of high-minded civil libertarians. But for some reason he had to speak.

Put another way, look at Obama and Trump. The White House just said that Trump's keep-them-out call "disqualifies him from serving as president." Trump could lie about Obama's birth certificate and drop hints about the President's loyalties ("There's something going on with him that we don't know about"). That didn't disqualify him. This does. That's a big fat line we're talking about, and everyone from Josh Earnest to Cheney to Matt Moore (chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party) can see that Trump has crossed it. The thing is, I'm not clear what line we're talking about. As far as the Constitution is concerned, it seems that immigrants and visitors can be kept out for whatever reason.

As for bigotry, consider Trump's talk of rounding up immigrants and registering Muslims, not to mention his race lies about disloyal Arab Americans and an imaginary Mexico that frees rapists and sends them over the border. Maybe keep-them-out is just the last straw and gets to be the recoil's cause because it comes latest, but maybe not. I suspect there's some element to the idea that speaks bigotry in a way that gets through to non–bleeding hearts. What that element is, I don't know. After seeing the fuss over the alleged "Ground Zero mosque," I figured average Americans were too scared of Muslims to worry about fairness. Maybe they still feel that way, but for some reason their leaders are speaking up.

Behold the man. Trump is talking with Chris Cuomo on CNN. Cuomo points to America's national security professionals and their considered opinion. "They're the experts," he says. "That's what they say, they think this idea is stupid." Meaning the keep-them-out idea. Trump answers, "When you say that, I spoke before an audience last night, a massive audience last night—people were there, thousands of people inside, thousands of people outside, they couldn't even get in—and got standing ovations as soon as this was mentioned. Standing ovations." Cuomo objects that, sure, Trump fans might stand up and applaud. "Standing ovations from very smart people," Trump says. "These are intelligent people, these are great citizens, these people are concerned about our country." Right after that, for whatever reason, he brings in his tag line about the Muslim ban: "Until our country's representatives can figure it out." The phrase just floats in there.

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From the Daily Mail:
Serving police officers today backed Donald Trump's claim that some Muslim communities in the UK are no-go areas because of extremism.
Several Met officers have said the 'Islamification' of some parts of the capital requires 'extra vigilance' and they can't wear uniforms for safety reasons...
[O]ne serving officer said today Trump had 'pointed out something plainly obvious, something which I think we aren't as a nation willing to own up to'.
Another policeman said that he and other colleagues fear being terror targets and spoke of the 'dire warning' from bosses not to wear a uniform 'even in my own car.'
[O]ne serving officer in west London said: 'Islamification has and is occurring,' adding: 'You have to have extra vigilance in certain parts when you are working.'
A Lancashire Police officer told MailOnline: 'There are Muslim areas of Preston that, if we wish to patrol, we have to contact local Muslim community leaders to get their permission.'
One officer from Yorkshire said on the online forum Police.Community: 'I'm not allowed to travel in half blues to work anymore IN MY OWN CAR as we're 'All at risk of attack' – yet as soon as someone points out the obvious it's 'divisive.'
He added: 'In this instance he (Trump) isn't wrong. Our political leaders are best either ill-informed or simply being disingenuous.
'He's pointed out something that is plainly obvious, something which I think we aren't as a nation willing to own up to – do you think a US Police Department would ban officers from wearing their uniforms under jackets etc due to FEAR of their cops being killed by extremists?
'We implement half measures such as 'No-one is allowed to come into work half blues, even in your own cars because if you get beheaded it'll be your own fault.
'It would be seen as un-American, un-democratic, not the done thing... In the UK though we accept it'.
One female officer in the Met said if a police officer was attacked it would be written off.
She said: 'Even if one of us did get killed or dragged off in a van. It would just be reported as a 'one-off incident' and no reason to change the 'British style of policing...'
Another Met officer who resigned this year said: 'I was a PC in the Met for 11 years – I resigned as I couldn't handle it anymore.'
'Whilst provocative Trump's comments does carry some weight. PCs are not permitted to even come to work in 'half Blues' (just wearing trousers and shirt) for fear of attack whilst going to work. That is a directive from Scotland Yard.
'PCs have come out to find police cars having the brake lines cut and sometimes their own personal cars damaged'.
Another serving police officer agreed and said: 'Same here regarding the dire warnings of wearing half blues even in my own car and I'm not in London'.
Damn' Limey liars, every man jack of them. Similar reports from Malmo, Paris, couple of other places.
The presumption that, just because Trump says it, it must be false is kind of like giving people lots of rope. Shortly after snorting themselves into a nasal blood flow, they have to deal with the fact that...it might be a fact.

Oh, yeah. Question: If I know--as do you--that the Russian intel gave the FBI the Tsarnaevs on a silver platter, and the FBI couldn't find anything wrong, am I a bigot? If I know, as you do, that the female shooter's K1 visa contained fakes so obvious that ABC spotted them in a couple of days, am I a bigot?
If I know, as do you, that the FBI had disturbing info on Nidal Hasan and couldn't get anybody to pay attention, am I a bigot?
If I know, as do you, that Comey of the FBI and Clapper of the DIA have both said we have no way to vet these folks, am I a bigot?

C.T. Even you are smart enough to know that's a dodge. Did Stormfront put the Brit cops up to a lie? If my idea for the highest acceptable number of jihadis per 10k refugees is lower than your acceptable number of jihadis per 10k refugees, does that make me a bigot?

"That's a big fat line we're talking about, and everyone from Josh Earnest to Cheney to Matt Moore (chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party) can see that Trump has crossed it. The thing is, I'm not clear what line we're talking about. As far as the Constitution is concerned, it seems that immigrants and visitors can be kept out for whatever reason."
True, true. There was no public outcry to invite the Barbary Pirates to settle in the US of A 200 years ago, nor would there have been outrage if they had been kept out. There is no right of foreigners to enter or immigrate to America.